Promises and Patron
by starbuckfaerie21
Summary: Auggie makes a promise.


**Promises & Patron**

**Disclaimer:** _Covert Affairs_ belongs to Matt Corman, Chris Ord, and USA network, not me. Unfortunately Chris Gorham (or Auggie for that matter doesn't belong to me either). The lyrics belong to Ryan Star. I'm just borrowing.

**Pairing**: Annie/Auggie

**Rated: T**

Author's Note: After the overwhelming responses my other fics got…I had to write this one. Thank you everyone. I hope you all like this one too! Special thanks to mag 721 for the inspiration.

**Spoilers**: Vague references to the pilot and episode two "Walter's Walk" as well as to the most recent episode.

"_We should go to sleep now,_

_You should stay the night._

_I'll be up to watch the world around us live and die."_

_Ryan Star-"We Might Fall_

"Annie…Annie…Stay with me…**Annie**!"

She blinked and tried to focus on the familiar voice.

_Auggie_.

"Auggie?"

She called his name uncertainly, suddenly unable to trust her senses in the chaos that had erupted moments before at DPD headquarters.

"I'm right here, Annie. Just breathe and try to relax."

She tried to inhale and a wave of pain spread through her chest like fire.

"I've really got to stop getting shot at." Annie said through clenched teeth.

"Occupational hazard. Although Joan did pull you off The Farm early, so you probably missed the bullet dodging course."

"There's a bullet dodging course?"

"Nope. I'm just messing with you." Auggie said with a chuckle.

She looked around the room that was once the division's brand new state of the art operations center. Now it was nothing but shattered windows, broken equipment, overturned desks and bullet riddled walls. All around her people were panicked and frightened. Some were injured like she was. A symphony of voices sang a song of pain. She wanted to join in but instead she met Auggie blind eyes. He had no injuries that she could see.

"Are you okay?" Auggie nodded, "Compared to Tikrit, this was a walk in the park."

She looked at him skeptically as she touched him checking for broken bones or bleeding through his clothing.

"Annie…Annie…hey I'm okay. But you're not so take it easy."

"What happened?" Annie whispered.

"All hell broke loose." Auggie answered grimly.

_Thirty minutes earlier_

They were in the middle of a briefing in the large open conference room at the Domestic Protection Division when the security alarms began to go off.

"Hate to interrupt Joan, but it sounds like we might have company."

"Thank you very much for that astute observation, Auggie."

Her voice was calm and authoritative as usual but Annie could see the fear in her eyes.

_It wasn't easy to scare Joan Campbell. If Joan panicked it was for good reason._

Annie instinctively moved closer to Auggie and gripped his arm tightly.

"It's going to be okay, Annie." Auggie whispered, as his placed his hand gently over hers.

Suddenly a familiar voice came from behind them and Annie felt her heart jump into her throat.

"Oh I beg to differ."

Ben Mercer stood in the center of the DPD ops center with a gun in one hand.

"Arthur Campbell wanted to draw me out…Here I am. Now where is he?"

Joan kept her voice even as she replied, "He's probably in his office. Put the gun down and I'll call him down here."

Mercer made no effort to drop his weapon; instead he shook his head and pointed the gun at Joan.

He was about to fire when another set of footsteps approached from behind.

"I'm right here, Mercer. Let everyone in here go and I'll give you whatever you want."

Joan gave a sharp intake of breath as she saw her husband step into the room.

"I want you to tell the truth."

"The truth about what?"

Arthur asked hoping in vain to talk Mercer into a peaceful surrender.

Surprisingly it was Joan who spoke up. "Our operatives are recruited for a wide variety of reasons. Agent Walker's language skills are…"

Arthur met his wife's eyes and spoke, "Joan let me handle this. Mercer said he wanted the truth so let's give it to him."

From across the room, Joan looked at Annie, as if to apologize for what her husband was about to say.

"It's true Annie Walker was recruited by the agency in an effort to find you. We don't take very kindly to rogue agents in our line of work. And Jai Wilcox was tasked with getting close to Annie on the off chance that she would lead us to you."

Someone without Auggie's acute sense of hearing would have missed the sound of Annie's sigh that was equal parts betrayal and disbelief. But Auggie heard it and for a moment he wished he hadn't. He also knew she was crying and at that moment he was actually grateful for his blindness because he couldn't see her tears or the pained expression on her face.

For a moment Ben Mercer said nothing and then he aimed his gun, in Arthur Campbell's general direction. He was about to fire, when Auggie felt Annie's grip on his arm release.

_No Annie, don't._

He didn't call out for fear that he would spook Mercer and he'd hurt Annie.

But in the next moment he heard the sound of Annie's distinctive kitten heels as they took exactly eight steps across the floor. He didn't have to have his sight to know that she had put herself between Arthur and Mercer.

"You don't have to do this, you know." Annie said softly as she looked into her former lover's familiar ice blue eyes for the second time in just a few days.

"I tried to warn you, Annie. I told you I was telling the truth but you didn't believe me."

"That's my fault, not his. If you want to shoot him, you're going to have to shoot me too."

"I don't want to hurt you, Annie. But I will if I have to."

His closeness made her shiver, but this time it was out of fear instead of desire.

"Go ahead and do it then. You told me to trust the man I fell in love with in Sri Lanka but he doesn't exist anymore…I'm not even sure he ever existed in the first place."

She looked at across the room at Auggie and then closed her eyes and waited for the shot.

_I'm sorry Auggie._

And it came…just not the way she expected.

The building's armed security force had finally arrived. Gunshots announced their entrance and everyone hit the floor…everyone except for Annie who was still trying to disentangle herself from Mercer's grasp.

He pushed her away and ran but not before the stray bullet struck her in the chest and she fell seemingly in slow motion toward the floor.

Auggie heard her cry of pain and ran toward it.

"_**Annie!"**_

He caught her in his arms just before she hit the floor.

_Now_

All the memories came back in a rush that made Annie dizzy. If Auggie hadn't been holding her, she probably would've fainted.

She took a deep painful breath and looked up at Auggie, but he answered her question before she could ask it.

"Mercer got away." He said softly. "You probably saved Arthur's life."

Her breath caught in her throat as Auggie pressed his palm against the gunshot wound in her chest.

"Sorry, "He whispered. I know that probably hurts."

Although he couldn't see it, Auggie knew that Annie was bleeding pretty badly because he felt the sticky liquid seeping through his fingers.

"Auggie? Do you still have that bottle of Patron in your desk drawer?"

"Of course, but I can't reach it from here. And I'm not going to leave you alone. Besides I don't think tequila is what you need right now."

_I think tequila is exactly what I need right now._

"I really am okay, Auggie."

"That would have been more convincing without the clenched teeth, Annie dear. I'm surprised you're so good at your job because you're quite possibly the worst liar I've ever met.

Annie chuckled and then winced at the pain it caused. "Danielle says the same thing."

"The agency must have hired you for your good looks."

_And because of Ben._

"And I know you're thinking they probably recruited you just because of your connection to Mercer. But you're wrong. You're a good field agent Annie. Probably one of the best I've ever worked with."

"Good field agents don't get shot."

"Yes they do. It happens all the time. That's one of the things that makes field work so dangerous."

"Maybe you're right…listen…if help doesn't get here in time…"

"Annie, don't say that. You're going to be fine."

"I know…but if I'm not…Promise me you'll tell them…Danielle and the girls…and Michael too…They deserve to know the truth."

Auggie nodded but he couldn't bring himself to say the words, as he felt tears welling in his blind eyes.

"Thanks, Auggie." She replied, her voice barely above a whisper.

In her last few moments of consciousness, Annie glanced at Auggie and he heard the sense of urgency in her voice.

"Do one more thing for me?"

"I'll do anything if you promise to stop talking and take it easy."

"Will you hold me Auggie?" She asked softly. Pretend that you love me and hold me…Just for a little while?"

Her words slurred together and he knew she'd lose unconsciousness in a matter of moments.

"I don't have to pretend Annie. I _**do**_ love you."

"I love you too, Auggie. Promise you'll be here when I wake up?"

"I promise."

_Fin_


End file.
